Tests and Choices
by Bright Silver Lady of Midnight
Summary: The course of true love never did run smooth. Perhaps sometimes it stops running and changes directions all together, leaving you with your own personal train wreck. Unusual pairing.


Silena Beauregard sat at the mouth of the Zephyros Creek. It was a thin body of water, but it was fed by the ocean and stretched halfway across Camp Half-Blood. She stared out into the water, not really knowing what she was looking to see; answers, perhaps.

Her mother either really loved her, or really hated her. Judging by the way she had acted the few times they met, it was the former, but based on her current situation, it was the latter. The course of true love never did run smooth, she reminded herself. _Or was it even true love,_ she wondered.

Heavy breathing cut off her thoughts. Refusing to believe it was a monster, because only little kids thought monsters could get past the borders, of course, she looked up slowly. Oh, good; not a monster. Annabeth Chase ran on the beach, her breath heavy and her traffic cone-orange shirt plastered to her back.

"You're _engaged_," Silena reminded herself, "so quit it."

"You… say… something?" Annabeth panted.

Silena smiled up at her, "Talking to myself."

"Having an interesting conversation with an interesting person," Annabeth called over her shoulder with a grin. "That's what my Dad calls it."

Absolutely clueless. Just like her soon-to-be boyfriend. Why was she making things hard on herself? She had great friends, a great father, and a great boyfriend. Everything was great, great, great! It had to be, didn't it? That was just the way things worked.

_But that's just the thing about perfect things _she thought. _They get broken._

Though she and Beckendorf had yet to announce their engagement (he wanted to wait until after the war; she refused to do it without him), she had seen the ring she would wear on the third finger of her left hand. She would wear it _forever. _This was going to be _permanent_, and not just because she loved Charlie. She loved this little being growing inside her. She loved it so much her heart throbbed. She spoke to him (and she was sure it was a him- she was the one carrying him, after all) when she knew no one else was around.

She loved this baby, and she would give him a proper family. It would have a mommy, a daddy, maybe a younger sibling or two and some form of soft, cuddly animal. He would have the childhood she wished she had. Despite being able to change her appearance from a young age, she wished (to an extent) that she'd found out when she was in fifth or sixth grade, like everyone else. She wanted to grow up like a normal child, and she'd be damned if her baby wouldn't.

She and Charlie and their baby would be happy. But… then there was Annabeth. She just made things confusing. Her mother had done thousands of unrequited loves, but was this one of them? She wasn't going to leave Charlie, even if she turned out to be a lesbian. That was the most frustrating part of all of this; was she a lesbian, or was she straight?

After much reflecting, it came to her: this was a test. Her mother had sent her a test. But… what of? Loyalty to a guy she'd liked for such a long time, or clarity of her feelings? If she didn't even know the subject, how could she expect to pass? She was smart, when it came to love. Some might even call her wise. She just wished the space between wisdom and clarity was a smaller one. She felt like she was caught in this huge void, with raw feelings that she couldn't discern on one side. On the other was perfect clarity of what she was feeling, but she couldn't try to cross to either side.

When she got too close to the raw feelings side, all she felt was confusion. Everything was there, but she couldn't make head or tails of what she felt. When she tried to get to the clarity side, all she saw were facts. It was cold there; she felt nothing, and she hated that. She couldn't stand being too close to either one, so she was caught in the middle. Both of the sides had a magnetic pull, and if they didn't stop yanking, she was going to fall apart.

What would her mother tell her to do? _Listen to your heart,_ a voice told her. Silena threw her arms up in the air. "And just what is _that_ supposed to mean? I. Do. Not. Understand. "

Was that a sigh, or the wind rustling through the trees? Listen to your heart? What a cop-out! She felt a little nudge in her lower abdomen, and she knew what she had to do. She just hoped she'd pass.

_So that's my entry for the next round of PowerofWords12's contest. And, yes, I do believe Silena has the ability to change her appearance. She's had different three different hair colors and two different eye colors in the books I've read, so I think she can change little things like that about herself. Besides, Aphrodite appeared as different women when Percy saw her. But enough of my theories; I'm interested in what _you_ think._

_This is, obviously, before they both __***spoiler alert***__die in The Last Olympian, and is slightly AU since I don't think Silena was pregnant, though that would have been possible (the engagement stemming off from the pregnancy). If you decide to review, I want to know who you think Silena chose. I know what I'd have her do, but, hey, I could be wrong._


End file.
